IF I ONLY HAD A BRAIN

Have you ever been with a customer and they ask you questions about your product or service that only the most inside technical people in your company could ever know? (And they might not even know)

The usual response is to try your best to give some kind of answer. It may not be the answer to the question, but at least it is an answer. Now I am not saying just make something up, I am saying the average rep will give a very accurate and correct answer that may not have anything to do with what the customer wanted to know.

This happened to me yesterday. A customer asked me a question about a piece of equipment and I had no idea of the answer. I immediately told the customer I can make one phone call and get him what he needed to know, he said NO!

The customer looked at me and said, “Why should I buy from you, if you don’t know your product?”

This question put me at a fork in the road. I could have chosen to say, “Why would I sell you a product you don’t know about” (JUST KIDDING!) Actually I did have 2 options. Option 1; tell the customer that I am a sales rep NOT an engineer. Option 2; (the one I chose) I simply told the customer that I carry tens of thousands of different products. Each one has its own specs. I try my best to know enough about each product to sell them, but I don’t need to know ever spec because I have a team of people that can give me that information in a few seconds when I need it.

The customer was impressed. He asked me if he had access to the same technical information that I had about the products he would buy from me. I told him he did. He asked me to make the call.

How much do you know about the support behind the sales at your company? How much confidence do you have in the support behind your products in your company? I know a lot of reps that can recite chapter and verse about their products. They have become students of the products and have a lot of technical information about them. I also know that every one of the reps that know this much DON’T KNOW IT ALL!

A smart rep not only knows a lot of information about the products and services they sell, they know where to get the information they don’t know. I don’t know any reps that don’t have their “Go To” people inside their own company or with their vendors so they have access to information as they need it.

You need to build your support network. It is just as important to build relationships within your company as it is to build relationships with your customers, maybe even more important. Get direct phone numbers so you have access, get e mail addresses, GET TO KNOW THE PEOPLE YOU WILL DEPEND ON AND MAKE SURE THEY GET TP KNOW YOU!

Having inside as well as outside contacts makes you a much larger force to be reckoned with. Do a survey within your own company. Ask the top reps if they have specific people they call for help. Ask not only about technical information, ask about credit, customer service, inventory, shipping and the list will go on depending on your company.

I will assure you that every top rep has their support team!

THE BIGGER THE FOUNDATION, THE BIGGER THE BUILDING.

Lorin